This SWAC/OECD study maps the evolution of violence across North and West Africa, with a particular focus on Mali, Lake Chad and Libya. The work is based on a new spatial indicator of political violence designed to assess the long-term evolution of conflicts and provide policy options. It calls upon the region’s states and the international community to promote regional initiatives to restore state legitimacy, increase investment in border regions and better protect civilians. Read on

In the past decade, one third of the incidents of political violence that have caused casualties in the region have taken place within 50-km of a land border. Inhabitants of small and medium‑sized towns in the Lake Chad basin have been the main victims of this political violence. Read on

This report published by the French newspaper La Libération reviews the relationship between the Fulani and Dogon ethnic groups, who lived in traditionally complementary ways. Drawing on local interviews, the article explains the traditional roles each group played, describes the changes that occurred following the jihadist occupation and analyses the root causes of tension, which has caused escalating intercommunal violence. Read on

Guinea-Bissau, the second-smallest West African country, home to nearly 2 million people, will start 2020 with a new president. Úmaro Sissoco Embaló, one of the seven prime ministers who served under outgoing President José Mário Vaz (2016-18), won the run-off election on 29 December 2019 with 54% of the vote. His rival, Domingos Simões Pereira, head of the ruling PAIGC party, denounced the results and suggested there had been electoral fraud. He plans to contest the results and take it up with the Supreme Court. Citizens hope that the election will end several decades of political instability in the country. Embaló’s election marks the first transition of power since independence and is a big milestone in the country’s journey towards democracy. Read on